Head down to Akasaka for the launch of a new product and duck into a cafe to work on the presentation. Talking for 25 minutes in front of a phalanx of Japanese press might not seem like a big deal – but to be honest I’d rather face six hours on top of a truck on the road to Pakistan. AK47’s make me less nervous than video cameras. The cafe serves up tea – including a small sticker that suggests removing tea bag after two minutes. How long before this kind of notification becomes electronic? At some point you’re going to see mass market single use alarm clocks. Yes – timers placed on cafetieres have been around for a while – but not on takeaway products. And yes the humble lo-fi sticker has been around for a while. But for this coffee chain at least – the keep-the-drink hot sticker is an important part of it’s brand, an electronic sticker an extension of that.

The world is becoming increasingly notified.